Explaining the world one sketch at a time

Simplifying complex ideas through fun and insightful sketches. Explore topics from science, creativity, psychology, and more explained in pictures.

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Learn something new in a sketch each Sunday

Recent sketches

Submarine shower

Life on a nuclear submarine is life under some pretty intense constraints. For one, there’s not naturally any fresh water and any time you use it the waste water builds up in the tanks and then has to be expelled, and when you expel it that makes noise, and because nuclear subs don’t want to give away their location they do their best to minimise the number of times they have to do that. That means taking care of all fresh water. The other reason to take care of fresh water usage is that they have to make it the whole time — any fresh water for cooking, cleaning or drinking has to be made from sea water. If you drink a glass of water on a nuclear submarine you’re probably drinking the most expensive glass of water you’ll ever drink because it’s been desalinated by a nuclear submarine. Hence the submarine shower with a total of 20 seconds of water: 10s with the water on, turn it off while you soap and scrub and finish with 10s of rinsing. That’s it. For me it’s a nice reframe in how much you actually need when you take a shower, and it still works. So if you fancy saving water and energy you could give it a try. Submariner Tom Lewis even wrote a song about showers on submarines.…Life on a nuclear submarine is life under some pretty intense constraints. For one, there’s not naturally any fresh water and any time you use it the waste water builds up in the tanks and then has to be expelled, and when you expel it that makes noise, and because nuclear subs don’t want to give away their location they do their best to minimise the number of times they have to do that. That means taking care of all fresh water. The other reason to take care of fresh water usage is that they have to make it the whole time — any fresh water for cooking, cleaning or drinking has to be made from sea water. If you drink a glass of water on a nuclear submarine you’re probably drinking the most expensive glass of water you’ll ever drink because it’s been desalinated by a nuclear submarine. Hence the submarine shower with a total of 20 seconds of water: 10s with the water on, turn it off while you soap and scrub and finish with 10s of rinsing. That’s it. For me it’s a nice reframe in how much you actually need when you take a shower, and it still works. So if you fancy saving water and energy you could give it a try. Submariner Tom Lewis even wrote a song about showers on submarines.

30 May 2020

Find your why not

A lot of us may have felt pressure at times to find our purpose — to find our one true cause, our personal mission, what we personally should be doing and where we fit in. I really liked this framework and approach from Priya Singh who suggests that we don’t have one singular ‘why’ — that our why may change often and it’s not a pot of gold or treasure to be found and that if we haven’t found it we’re failing. She shares a framework of 3 types of work: work that feeds you and those that depend on you work that feeds the world, and work that feeds your soul Any work you do may fit into one or more of these, but don’t fall into the trap of thinking that your work needs to overlap all three. We’re each capable of many different projects in our lives and work that fits into just one or two of these is plenty. Rather than aim for the trap of the one elusive dream job consider diversifying and satisfying each of these with different activities or at different times. When presented with an opportunity or an idea, instead of asking why do it, try asking why not — practice not rejecting yourself before you’ve even started. Framework and wise ideas: Priya Singh. Any misinterpretation or inaccuracy is due to me.…A lot of us may have felt pressure at times to find our purpose — to find our one true cause, our personal mission, what we personally should be doing and where we fit in. I really liked this framework and approach from Priya Singh who suggests that we don’t have one singular ‘why’ — that our why may change often and it’s not a pot of gold or treasure to be found and that if we haven’t found it we’re failing. She shares a framework of 3 types of work: work that feeds you and those that depend on you work that feeds the world, and work that feeds your soul Any work you do may fit into one or more of these, but don’t fall into the trap of thinking that your work needs to overlap all three. We’re each capable of many different projects in our lives and work that fits into just one or two of these is plenty. Rather than aim for the trap of the one elusive dream job consider diversifying and satisfying each of these with different activities or at different times. When presented with an opportunity or an idea, instead of asking why do it, try asking why not — practice not rejecting yourself before you’ve even started. Framework and wise ideas: Priya Singh. Any misinterpretation or inaccuracy is due to me.

24 May 2020

The Keeling curve

Perhaps the most important curve of our times, Charles Keeling’s curve shows the change in concentration of CO2 in the air with measurements taken every year for over 60 years. Taken at the top of Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii because of its high altitude and relative isolation in the Pacific, Charles Keeling’s measurements show that the monthly average CO2 concentration in the air has risen from around 310 ppm (parts per million) to around 410 ppm in 2020. As a greenhouse gas this change in CO2 concentration is one of the critical causes of climate change. The concentration varies seasonally as plants bloom in Spring and Summer reducing the concentration from its high around May as the CO2 has built up over the Norhern Hemisphere Winter. The Scripps CO2 program is now overseen by Charles’ son Ralph Keeling.…Perhaps the most important curve of our times, Charles Keeling’s curve shows the change in concentration of CO2 in the air with measurements taken every year for over 60 years. Taken at the top of Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii because of its high altitude and relative isolation in the Pacific, Charles Keeling’s measurements show that the monthly average CO2 concentration in the air has risen from around 310 ppm (parts per million) to around 410 ppm in 2020. As a greenhouse gas this change in CO2 concentration is one of the critical causes of climate change. The concentration varies seasonally as plants bloom in Spring and Summer reducing the concentration from its high around May as the CO2 has built up over the Norhern Hemisphere Winter. The Scripps CO2 program is now overseen by Charles’ son Ralph Keeling.

16 May 2020

LEGO faces

When I look back at the LEGO sets of my youth compared to the LEGO sets of today, a few things are striking. Today’s is much cooler: the colours are better, the pieces are more interesting, and the sets are more clever (they also have a lot more weapons*). And the sets have their own characters: they’re not just nameless people in characterless towns—every set is full of people with names, expressions, backstories, personalities and goals. My observation, ahem, through our children, is that this makes it way more interesting to play with. It’s the characters and the story that make them so good now. A good part of that I think is also the shift in quality of expressions on the faces. I am kind of in awe of LEGO faces. The number and variety and subtlety of expressions it’s possible to make with just a few small changes to a few small lines on a face I find truly astounding. This sketchplanation shows just a tiny bit of the variety from the LEGO Movies. Respect to the artists. *5% of Lego boxes sold in 2001 contained Lego weapons. In 2014 that was 30% according to Bartneck C, Min Ser Q, Moltchanova E, Smithies J, Harrington E (2016) Have LEGO Products Become More Violent? PLoS ONE 11(5): e0155401.…When I look back at the LEGO sets of my youth compared to the LEGO sets of today, a few things are striking. Today’s is much cooler: the colours are better, the pieces are more interesting, and the sets are more clever (they also have a lot more weapons*). And the sets have their own characters: they’re not just nameless people in characterless towns—every set is full of people with names, expressions, backstories, personalities and goals. My observation, ahem, through our children, is that this makes it way more interesting to play with. It’s the characters and the story that make them so good now. A good part of that I think is also the shift in quality of expressions on the faces. I am kind of in awe of LEGO faces. The number and variety and subtlety of expressions it’s possible to make with just a few small changes to a few small lines on a face I find truly astounding. This sketchplanation shows just a tiny bit of the variety from the LEGO Movies. Respect to the artists. *5% of Lego boxes sold in 2001 contained Lego weapons. In 2014 that was 30% according to Bartneck C, Min Ser Q, Moltchanova E, Smithies J, Harrington E (2016) Have LEGO Products Become More Violent? PLoS ONE 11(5): e0155401.

10 May 2020

The law of unintended consequences

People are complicated. Life is complicated. Ecosystems are complicated. And despite our best efforts or intentions, we have a remarkable history of messing things up in unexpected ways. One simple theory for why this may be is that unintended consequences are likely to happen whenever we try to regulate a complex system by using a simple system. This so often happens in any kind of large-scale or government attempt to control something within a complex system using relatively simple programs, regulations, laws, policies or other actions. Things will happen that we didn’t anticipate. Examples abound: A policy of suppressing forest fires that goes on to cause even greater fires. An attempt to reduce traffic in Bogotá by restricting who could drive each day based on licence plates that led people to simply buy more cars. More open workplaces that cause people to behave more privately: the transparency paradox. Elimination of predators that leads to the proliferation of grazing animals and a reduction in diversity. The effects of literally any dam built anywhere. What happens when you change software. Desire paths The Streisand effect The Diderot effect Or social distancing policies that results in outdoor natural spaces being crammed with people at weekends. And on, and on. Often, as with some of these, the outcome can be the opposite of what you intended, known as the cobra effect. Controlling complex systems is difficult.…People are complicated. Life is complicated. Ecosystems are complicated. And despite our best efforts or intentions, we have a remarkable history of messing things up in unexpected ways. One simple theory for why this may be is that unintended consequences are likely to happen whenever we try to regulate a complex system by using a simple system. This so often happens in any kind of large-scale or government attempt to control something within a complex system using relatively simple programs, regulations, laws, policies or other actions. Things will happen that we didn’t anticipate. Examples abound: A policy of suppressing forest fires that goes on to cause even greater fires. An attempt to reduce traffic in Bogotá by restricting who could drive each day based on licence plates that led people to simply buy more cars. More open workplaces that cause people to behave more privately: the transparency paradox. Elimination of predators that leads to the proliferation of grazing animals and a reduction in diversity. The effects of literally any dam built anywhere. What happens when you change software. Desire paths The Streisand effect The Diderot effect Or social distancing policies that results in outdoor natural spaces being crammed with people at weekends. And on, and on. Often, as with some of these, the outcome can be the opposite of what you intended, known as the cobra effect. Controlling complex systems is difficult.

3 May 2020

Listen with passion

So often do we talk about speaking with passion, much rarer do we think about listening with passion. Conversations are two-sided, they only work if one person is listening while the other is talking. Unfortunately, we tend to have a greater innate interest in making sure others know the smart, interesting and important things that we think than truly absorbing what someone else has to say. So I love this quote from Harriet Lerner: Listen with the same passion with which we want to be heard. If we all could do this routinely with our colleagues, friends, family, children, and partners I’d guess it’d make quite a difference. I learned about it from Brené Brown’s Dare to Lead.…So often do we talk about speaking with passion, much rarer do we think about listening with passion. Conversations are two-sided, they only work if one person is listening while the other is talking. Unfortunately, we tend to have a greater innate interest in making sure others know the smart, interesting and important things that we think than truly absorbing what someone else has to say. So I love this quote from Harriet Lerner: Listen with the same passion with which we want to be heard. If we all could do this routinely with our colleagues, friends, family, children, and partners I’d guess it’d make quite a difference. I learned about it from Brené Brown’s Dare to Lead.

26 Apr 2020

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